Friday, May 3, 2013

Growing your own food is like printing your own money….that’s
the vibe when you’re looking over displays of gorgeous—albeit pricey—fruits and
veggies at the farmers market. Those of us who try to grow our own, wonder
aloud who will wreck it first—the bugs, or petty thieves.

I can’t blame them. Veggies are a work of art. Ever
really look at a radish in the raw? It’s the prettiest shade of purple you’ll
ever see. No way you’d pull that one from a box of Crayola’s. Sometimes you can
reason your way into the purchase of a little clump for $5. Fresh fruit and
veggies are, after all, essential—not just for your reputation as a damn good
cook, but for the health of your family, both physical and mental. Case in
point, there seem to be two types of shoppers at the grocery store: the cranky
ones who don’t smile and get gruff with the cashier while unloading
hyper-processed cans and bags of “food” from their carts, and friendlier ones,
buying food like they’ve just come from a Dr. Oz seminar.

I want to go up to the people buying junk food, grip
their shoulders and say: “You can eat…or you can eat well…come on over to my
house for Sunday
Best Roasted Veggies! You won’t believe how easy it is, and how you’ll
never want to buy a TV dinner again!”

My grocery cart this week was like a cornucopia without
the actual cornucopia: fresh fennel, parsnips, kale, radishes, kohlrabi, red
potatoes—and it all culminated in a roasted vegetable medley, tossed in pure
olive oil, pinch of sea salt and a little rosemary clipped from the backyard.
The aroma that ensued was just insane…I mean, it SMELLS SO GOOD, like love and
comfort wrapped in golden earth, worthy of an old-century Flemish painting. You
know the ones—melons, pomegranates, big bunches of carrots, potatoes and other
unbridled natural riches that just beg to be taken away.

I read somewhere that the way people prepare their
vegetables is a testimony of tradition and cultural heritage; for instance,
most people think of carrots as orange because that’s the way they were always
depicted in art—but there are actually several colors of carrots: red, purple
and white. I love root vegetables—but I love my mandoline even more. I’ve tried
slicing radishes and kohlrabi with a plain old kitchen knife, and it’s a
slippery business that requires a firm and steady hand. The chunks wind up
being too big to roast into a product that’s supposed to remind you of potato
chips.

That Kitchen Must Have aside, so long as you have an
oven, you’ll be OK. Roasting veggies gives them an extra layer of flavor that
makes them uber—or in the case of root veggies “tuber” delicious. You can
elevate any meat dish to a classier affair with a side of roasted vegetables.
They make it look like you’ve gone to a lot of extra trouble, when in fact—and I
have to agree with New York Times writer, Mark Bittman here: “even the company
cafeteria can’t screw them up.”

There are so many ways to prepare Sunday Best roasted
veggies, good any day of the week. Try
them in a rich aioli. If you put a slice of crust-less bread, white wine
vinegar, garlic cloves, egg yolks, lemon juice and zest, plus plenty of olive
oil into a food processor, you can make enough sauce to dress that motherload
of roasted veggies you just made all week! When I roasted mine this morning for the blog,
I mixed the roasted parsnips, fennel, radishes and red potatoes into a bowl of cold
baby spinach, and sprinkled the top with a generous helping of chick peas. No
one can say I’m running on empty today—I’m more likely than ever, in fact, to give
a non-believer a hug. Eat your fruit and veggies, just like your Momma said,
and everything will be alright!

About Me

Jorj Morgan is the author of several lifestyle enhancement books about entertaining, gourmet cooking and health and wellness. Her projects include serving up, writing about and/or performing before a live audience her kicked up, revved up family style recipes, accompanied by cutting edge hosting tips and employing state of the art gadgets to enrich the entire kitchen experience. First and foremost, Jorj is an extreme party planner. Her passion for parties runs the gamut from entertaining friends at her annual South Florida Christmas party to hosting long (lost) weekends at her summer home in the mountains of North Carolina. From conducting cooking classes, to passing out personal and time-tested recipes, Jorj is a constant source of current and stylish domestic trends that benefit every chef and hostess. Learn more about Jorj, her books, her projects and her cooking classes at Jorj.com.